Thread: Mahogany Shaving Mirror

No always. Some of the most expensive mahogany furniture in the world was made in the Us a long time ago. I have a much more humble piece, a folding game table, that is solid mahogany and it was made in Louisville, KY around 1900.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

That is an awesome shaving mirror & stand. Looks like it is from the Empire period/influence. Nice that it is solid mahogany. If it was US made it would be vanier. Beautiful piece. Nice and small makes it even nicer. Great find. It sits like it belongs on that marble top. All it will need is an occasional polishing.

Originally Posted by JDM61

No always. Some of the most expensive mahogany furniture in the world was made in the Us a long time ago. I have a much more humble piece, a folding game table, that is solid mahogany and it was made in Louisville, KY around 1900.

Roger that. US produced some beautiful mahogany furniture especially from the cabinet makers in the Port cities (primarily from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston) during the Colonial Period. By the Empire Period & (post industrial revolution) much of the furniture was made with veneers that covered the cheaper/secondary woods. The solid wood furniture like this mahogany shaving stand are really nice and are a favorite of mine.

Ok. I'm still looking for a nice shaving mirror like that! Holy crap-congratulations!!!!

Originally Posted by Steel

Ok. I'm still looking for a nice shaving mirror like that! Holy crap-congratulations!!!!

Thanks but that was not my good fortune. I am only a jealous admirer of that beauty as well.

Nice pce,but would seriously dougbt the base is solid Mahogany.

It may be, but not of the same quality as the top. Most of even the Cuban mahogany you see does not have that kind of figure just like other woods. That is one reason that you saw veneer and marquetry.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Nice pce,but would seriously dougbt the base is solid Mahogany.

Even the furniture with veneer and marquetry cold still be straight grain mahogany underneath. I have a little desk done up like that that has a really elaborate diamond marquetry/parquet pattern on the front lid. The shortage of that particular wood did not get critical until around the turn of the 20th Century IIRC and by the period after the end of WW2 was pretty much done. Even the Gibson guitars from the 1950's like the Les Pauls which sell for numbers in the low to mid 6 figure range today where not "real mahogany" by that point in time like the back and sides of the cheaper pre-war Martins might have been. Remember that a lot of that not million dollar plus American furniture from the mid to late 18th Century was, in fact, a bit simpler in its construction and particularly its decoration compared to stuff coming from Europe. It relied on the wood figure and the carving for its decoration whereas the French, for example, did some outrageous veneer and contrasting wood marquetry work, as did the English to a lesser degree. I have a little dresser from that late 1800's early 1900's period that is solid mahogany, but has contrasting kingwood inlays on the front panels of the drawers. For the top of the line work, I think that is was more of a stylistic thing than one of shortage of quality materials, at least until the time in the mid to late 1800's when the demand exploded because a lot more people could afford such fine things. My dad has a small English mahogany desk that has the "parquet" marquetry, carving and at one point, appears to have had some of the gold or painted metallic overlay in the French style that wore off or was removed over the years.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

Roger that. US produced some beautiful mahogany furniture especially from the cabinet makers in the Port cities (primarily from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston) during the Colonial Period. By the Empire Period & (post industrial revolution) much of the furniture was made with veneers that covered the cheaper/secondary woods. The solid wood furniture like this mahogany shaving stand are really nice and are a favorite of mine.

Originally Posted by JDM61

It may be, but not of the same quality as the top. Most of even the Cuban mahogany you see does not have that kind of figure just like other woods. That is one reason that you saw veneer and marquetry.

Interesting

I saw a story in the Miami Herald a few years back about an old growth Cuban/West Indian mahogany tree in Key Largo that had blown down in Hurricane Wilma IIRC. Those "real mahogany" trees were not the giants like some of the other tropical hardwood trees that you see making up the upper canopy in Central or South American rainforests. Normal height for one say in the highlands of the Dominican Republic or Jamaica might have been up to 100 feet tall. The Florida Keys and South Florida were at the northern end of the tree's range and perhaps not the ideal envoronment for them as they were way down low and, relatively speaking, and didn't get quite as much rain as true rainforest, so they did not get nearly as big as their southern cousins, more like 45-60 feet tall max. I recall that this one was over 50 feet tall and fairly thick around the trunk. As it is a highly protected species, about the only way that you can get the stuff is if a tree blows down in the US or if it is stuff that has been lying around in the US for decades like a batch of logs that I saw a few years back. This particular tree was auctioned off by the government and the winning bidder was actually the General Services Administration who bought it to restore the wall paneling of a large room in the old State, War and Navy Building/Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Your tax dollars at work.